Jerome Wetzel is the Chief Television Critic for Seat42F and a regular contributing reviewer on Blogcritics. He also appears on The Good, The Bad, and the Geeky podcast and Let's Talk TV With Barbara Barnett.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

THE STRAIN Is Contagious

FX has done it again with THE STRAIN.
What I mean by that is they’ve got yet another well-developed series
full of fascinating characters, engaging stories, and an original
premise. THE STRAIN does feel like many vampire movies of a certain vein
(think: Blade), but there is absolutely nothing like it currently on
TV, meaning there is no pattern for it to follow as it unfurls. This
makes for a rich, unpredictable mix of ingredients which already feel
special before they’re fully cooked.

THE STRAIN is based on a trilogy of
novels co-written by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy), who
is working on the show, too, having directed the first episode and
writing screenplays for it. His style, creepy and dark, is prevalent
throughout the pilot, “Night Zero,” which takes place in a single night.
There is definitely a clear voice behind the narrative, one infused
with talent and flair, and that comes through right away. If this
quality can be maintained, the series should easily find its audience.

THE STRAIN begins on a plane. Something
is lurking in the cargo hold that should not be, and by the time the
machine touches down on the tarmac, all is silent on board. The CDC, led
by Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll, House of Cards), among other
agencies, swarm to investigate. What they find is a horrific situation
that baffles their greatest minds and has no clear cause or prevention.
Will they be able to start to unravel the mysteries before the situation
spirals out of hand? Hard to tell, since the plot rockets away in the
first hour, already moving quite rapidly.

They may get some help from a seasoned
veteran of the ancient battle, Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley, Harry
Potter, Broadchurch). Abraham appears to be a Holocaust survivor who has
known his war isn’t over, but has been satisfied with the long
cease-fire. He is compelled to come out of retirement when he senses the
game is once more afoot, but since he is a grizzled old man with a
thick accent, it might be hard for him to get the attention of anyone
that cares.

Ephraim and Abraham seem to be our two
primary heroes, and they could not be any more different, making it
unlikely they’ll become fast partners, but that’s OK. This isn’t your
typical two-people-stop-a-baddie formula. Instead, it appears a massive
war is being teed up in the heart of New York City, a very populous
place, making Abraham and Ephraim but two players in a larger plot, the
focus in a vast scope. They may not even spend all that much time
together, though both will probably be needed in whatever solution
emerges in the end.

Both men are introduced in very telling
scenes, showing different sides of their personas. We first see Ephraim
rushing, perpetually late, to a custody meeting with his wife, Kelly
(Natalie Brown, Bitten), whom he doesn’t want to let go, but whom he’s
already lost. Abraham, meanwhile, takes down two thugs (one of whom is
played by Veronica Mars’ Francis Capra, a recurring player here) who
seek to rob him. Both of these show the men in ways we probably won’t
always see them throughout the series, but tell us something inherent to
their personalities, so is a cool way to begin with them.

The villains are complex, too, though
less fleshed out from the start. Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde,
Titanic) is the wealthy benefactor who lures the danger towards the Big
Apple. He is assisted by the cold Thomas Eichhorst (Richard Sammel,
Inglorious Basterds) and, strangely enough, a Latino street gang. They
have a plan and have had time to carefully enact it, meaning the good
guys are starting a few steps behind, so it may just be too late to stop
Palmer.

With a terrific cast that also includes
Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings), Mia Maestro (Alias), Kevin Durand
(Lost), Ben Hyland (House of Cards), Jack Kesy (Morgan), and Miguel
Gomez, it’s one of the most intriguing pilots I’ve seen this summer. The
mythology is obviously carefully mapped out and it is genuinely scary,
with major characters and countless extras sure to die in the coming
weeks in this incredibly dangerous world. Watching THE STRAIN feels like
viewing a grand film, rather than a TV show, with great visual effects
and a large sense of purpose and drive. The story is finite and it’s
going somewhere. I’m excited to see what that destination is.